Koinonia And Separation From Sin

Praise God, we're continuing on this series on Koinonia. I'm gonna turn you to Ephesians chapter five, just mainly for those online. Just a note to say that Anna and I will be in the U.S. ministering, preaching at the end of February, at the end of this month, the beginning of March again, both in Pottsville and Baton Rouge, just preaching the word of God.

It's just good for those online just to know that. But we wanna get straight into this Bible study. This is a Bible study.

We are not wishy-washy. We go for the word of God, we get into the word of God, we study the word of God. I make you work for a study.

We're not simply touching on things and pulling away the steak before you get your teeth into it. We are giving you the word of God. Do you know why? There is a deficiency of the written scriptures, of the truth of God, of the word of God right across the church.

For 30 years, there has been a widespread famine. In my lifetime, that famine has greatly increased. 30 years ago, I was convinced there was a famine, but far more now.

There is a real dire famine. There's a dire need for the word of God. So I pray that we don't take it casually, we don't take it lightly.

Do not sit here listening sermons and merely think you're safe because you're in a biblical church or a Bible preaching church. Do you know what? I'm even conscious the past several weeks, even since starting this series, I'm conscious that you sit here, not that you could sit here. You do sit here, hear messages.

You amen it, you agree with it, you believe it, but you don't understand it and you don't implement it. I'm very conscious of that. And that's a grave danger.

We move from message to message. You hear a message, you're impacted. Two weeks later, the impact of that could be minimized or you could walk out of a message, have a nod at your head, amen, certain things, and yet you still do not understand what you just heard.

In fact, you couldn't have heard it if those things don't change. But let's turn to Ephesians chapter five here tonight. And there's part six in Koinonia.

And my message tonight, we dealt with a very important message last week, which was Koinonia and the gospel, looking at how the power, the truth, the message of the gospel of Christ crucified has so saved people like you and I that we've been unified in the body of Christ. But reading here from Ephesians chapter five, verse one through to verse 11, and verse 11 tonight is my real text. Verse one, be there for followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become a saints, neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger nor unclean person nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Be not ye therefore partakers with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Proven what is acceptable unto the Lord and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. Let's pray together. Father, we love you.

We thank you, God, for the power of your word, for the power of your truth. Even tonight, Lord God, I pray, Lord God, as we deal with the word of God tonight, show us, define to us, reveal in greater degrees what koinonia is. Lord God, we wanna be led by your Spirit.

We don't wanna be deceived. Lord God, we don't wanna be led into darkness. We don't wanna be delusional.

Lord God, we don't wanna be caught up in mystical things and imaginations of our own brain or our own heart, but oh God, we wanna be led by the Spirit of God into the written scriptures, into truth. You said that we'd be known, oh God, as those that walk in the light, even as you're in the light. And Father, I do pray that we can have that koinonia with you, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit.

Lord God, we're asking of you that you reveal this precious koinonia tonight, that you'd show up all darkness, that you'd reveal every false gospel, every false lifestyle, every false way that would contradict the power of this beautiful koinonia in Jesus' mighty name, amen, amen. I wanna deal with here tonight is koinonia and separation from sin. I said there's maybe in around 50 clear, dogmatic scriptures that have the word koinonia or the family closely associated words to koinonia in them.

So in those about 50 verses that are explicit, I would say one out of five deal with separation from sin or what is darkness or what is false. In other words, you can't understand koinonia unless you deal with sin, know what sin is, and separate from sin. The greatest danger to true biblical koinonia is sin, personal sin, doctrinal sin, and the sin of this world, what the Bible talks about.

Let me just give you a few scriptures by way of introduction here. Again, just to be conscious of what this word koinonia means. And I want you, not for these initial three verses, but as we begin to get into my points, I want you to go to scriptures in the Bible with me.

I want you to follow me. Normally, I don't press on you to do this, but I am right now. And if you're not familiar with scriptures, go to the front of your Bible where it lists all the books in order.

Don't be ashamed to do that if you need to do it, because I want you quickly to turn to those scriptures, several of them, because I want you to see this. I want you to see the context that koinonia is dealt with in the context of sin, and that sin is a very real issue in this subject of koinonia. But before we turn to those scriptures, just listen a moment.

In Galatians 2, in verse nine, we read, and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. That's koinonia. They gave the right hand of fellowship, the right hand of koinonia, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.

So I want you to note, just as we begin this study on koinonia and separation from sin, that you have in Galatians 2, a situation where Paul the apostle and Barnabas go to Jerusalem and they meet up with the Jewish apostles of the church in Jerusalem. And specifically, they meet with James, Cephas, and John. Who is Cephas? That is Peter, Peter the apostle.

Another name for him is Cephas. Also, James is the brother of the Lord. So you have James, Cephas, and John, apostles, leaders in the church at Jerusalem.

And you have Paul and Barnabas going, sharing how the Gentiles are receiving the gospel. And we're told, amazingly, that these three men of God, who seem to be pillars or leaders, are fundamental men, are the greatest of men, are leaders in the church at Jerusalem. They stretch out their right hand and they take the hand of Paul and Barnabas and they welcome them into fellowship.

And they said that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision of the Jew. You go to the Gentiles, we go to the Jews. You go to the uncircumcised, we go to the circumcised.

Now, it doesn't mean they literally stuck out their hand and shook hands with them. It doesn't mean that. What is the right hand of fellowship, or koinonia? It means they stuck out that warm embrace, an emotional, internal thing of convictions.

In other words, they recognized these two preachers into unity with themselves. They were welcomed into the highest bond of fellowship, into communion with the apostles of the church at Jerusalem. In other words, the apostles in Jerusalem identified with Paul, who was going to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

And they identified with the new harvest of souls coming in, new churches, new converts, new evangelism. And they weren't being circumcised to get saved. Here they are being accepted as real Christians.

There was a warmth in this. There's an identification. They are identified with the gospel of Paul.

They are unified with the work of Paul, Barnabas, and his fellow laborers. What they're saying is, we are involved in the same work. We have the same goals.

We have, yes, different spheres. You're going to the Gentiles. We're going to the Jew.

But it's the same work, the same gospel, the same Christ, the same blood, the same family, one body of Christ. And so this act of giving them the right hand of fellowship was not a physical act, but it was an embracing of them and recognizing we're in the same koinonia. We're in a warm fellowship working together.

We're unified, even though we're going to preach in different areas to different people in different circumstances. But you know what? We recognize that you're a real believer. Let me quote two other scriptures here.

1 Timothy 5, verse 22. It says, Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker, koinonia, of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure.

We're going to come back to that. And then we have Matthew 23, verse 30, and say, if we have been in the days of our fathers, and this is Jesus speaking to the Jews of that day. If we have been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

What Jesus said, he says, you Jews are saying, if you lived in Jeremiah's day or Isaiah's day, you would have not partaken in the blood of killing real prophets. And he used the word partakers, which is koinonia. He says, you think you would not have been partakers or entered into koinonia with those men that killed, that martyred the prophets.

Jesus said, that's not true. You would have killed the prophets in those ancient days. Do you know what I'm showing you here? When Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5 and says, don't lay hands on any man suddenly because you'll be a partaker.

You'll be a koinonia with his sins. Do you know what these verses are showing? That you can be koinonia in sin. That you can be a partaker.

You can be in unity with the sins of other men, with their, although you haven't committed it. You can be in koinonia with them and you become guilty of their sins by your unity with them. And this is what I wanna deal with here tonight.

And I wanna tell you, James, Cephas and John were bringing Paul and Barnabas into koinonia, but there was nothing sinful. It was a real gospel. It was truth.

It was holiness. It was righteousness. So they were unified in warmth.

There was no sin in it. But the Bible does show us time and time again, there's a koinonia in sin and we're called to separate from it. What is sin? If my message is koinonia and separating from sin, what is sin? How do you define sin? What do you separate from? It says in 1 John 3 and verse 4, whosoever committeth sin.

And the word committeth there doesn't mean just, well, we've all committed sin, haven't we? Even since being Christians, we've committed sin. In 1 John, when it says committeth, it doesn't mean just the act of committing. It means you persistently without change as a habit of your life, as a part of who you are, you commit sin.

You're a sinner. You love your sin. You live in sin.

And so listen, it says, whosoever committeth transgression, or sorry, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth the law. Whosoever committeth sin transgresses the law. For sin is the transgression of the law.

How do you define sin? How do you know what is sin? The word of God clearly defines sin. It says this is wrong. So in other words, you can define sin.

What is sinful? What we need to separate ourselves from. What damages koinonia? The Bible in its entirety actually defines us. What sin is.

I don't wanna listen to someone on YouTube about that. I wanna go to my Bible and read clearly. What is sin? What am I to separate from? And what damages koinonia? See, I'm fully convinced tonight that Christianity in our world is being redefined for evangelism.

There's a popular new kind of evangelism that is sweeping our world through the internet, through YouTube, through Facebook, through internet means. It is sweeping, it is radical. It is a popular kind of rethinking of the gospel by this contemporary society, by the left and by the young generation.

You see, whether you realize or not, at the minute in Britain, sadly not in Ireland, but in Britain, in America, across the Western world, there's an entire young generation that are rethinking Christianity. They're taking a second look at Christianity. There's an entire generation of liberals, lefties, commies, who are now coming over and saying, hold on, we're rethinking this.

We actually believe Jesus may be who he says he is. An entire young generation. All those out in the world in the new age, out in the world, sinners, they're all beginning to rethink this.

It is popular. In recent times, in our day, there is a radical, unusual move going on in evangelism. And I think we need to consider it here tonight.

But do you know what's happening with those in the church at the cutting edge of this? They're smoothing the edges of the gospel. They're removing obstacles. They're not defining sin.

They're not calling for separation. They're not clearly proclaiming what the gospel says. And that really worries me.

What is a part of this movement? Men like Jordan Peterson. He is an outstanding man. I've got the highest respect and regard for him.

He's a Canadian psychologist. I've listened to him for more than four years, maybe six years. I've watched his progression, going from a man who was an agnostic, didn't know what he believed, and didn't know if he didn't believe or did believe.

He was pretty unsure. To becoming a convinced man saying, I believe Jesus is real. I believe in the biblical account.

I believe that the gospel is real. And suddenly we're impressed with this man. I believe it's a mistake.

I believe he's a great man, a great thinker. His wife is a Catholic. And she supposedly had some sort of healing from sickness.

He has gone through this radical change in his thinking and now proclaims a Christ. But is it the gospel? Is it the real salvation? You know, some years ago, about 2014, for the first time in my life, I wasn't raised educationally, academically. I never read the Greek philosophers, never, my entire life.

But in 2014 and 15, I set myself to go back and read them for the first time. And I was shocked out of my socks. I was blown away.

I started reading all of the great classic Greek scholars. And I thought I'd find infidels and wicked men and vile men and coarse men. I didn't find that.

I found the most brilliant moralist I'd ever read in my entire life. I was utterly shocked. And then the penny dropped.

Now I know why Paul preached against the wisdom of the Greeks. It was this wisdom. You know, it was so cunning because it was so moral.

They actually, those Greek philosophers, spoke about having good marriages and moral marriages and having moral lives and telling the truth and doing what is right. I was utterly shocked. It redefined, it made me think again.

But do you know what? That prepared me in reading them to see this new form of wisdom of the Greeks. It is outstanding. It is moral.

It is very appealing. And you know what? This new Greek philosophy is sweeping the Western world once again. It's just four weeks ago, I started watching some online videos.

Sorry, I'm just giving you an introduction. I've got so much to cover here, but I want you to hear this. There was a young man, 33 years old.

He is a born again Christian. He is a teacher. He is a scholar of scripture, a real born again Christian called Wes or Wesley Huff.

He was interviewed on Joe Rogan just after having been engaged in an online discussion with a man called Billy Carson, who was a mocker of Christ, a rejecter of Christ, who believed in UFOs and all of these different theories and ideas. And he used to ridicule the Bible to a young generation. He would laugh at it, mock at it, and try to expose it as false.

Well, he went on this discussion with Wesley Huff and Wesley Huff ran circles around him in a very short discussion. And the guy shut out on it, pulled out. This hit the headlines in that movement.

So guys like Joe Rogan immediately had him on, spoke for two hours. And this young man, Wesley Huff, constantly emphasized the resurrection of Christ, the truth of scripture, the authority of the Bible, the reality of an experience with Christ. I watched it and was amazed.

Here's Joe Rogan receiving all of this information. But here's something I want you to note. This young man, 33 years old, a brilliant scholar.

I can't lace his shoes. An archeologist, a student of ancient languages, a student of Sumerian and Egyptian and all of these ancient cultures. Absolutely brilliant.

I applaud him. He's done a great job at defending the gospel. But listen, in the interview, and this is my first experience, and I went and researched.

He had a friend that organized that interview called Mark. And he said, my friend Mark is a friend, a family friend. Mark is a Christian.

He has Christian faith, Christian convictions. So here's this great young guy, standing, academic, brilliant, born again without doubt. But here he is accepting people who aren't born again.

His friend Mark denies and rejects the Old Testament, doesn't believe in a literal creation, doesn't believe in the miracles of the Old Testament, doesn't believe in a literal hell, but he does believe in the loving Jesus of the gospels. So we call him a Christian. See, what I'm telling you is something that's spreading across the Western world.

Now, in case you don't know, Russell Brand, that old commie that used to be a commie, who knows what he is now? I don't think he knows half the time what he is. But in May last year, 2024, he was baptized in water in the River Thames in London, professing his born again experience and his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In case you don't know, he was a drug user, communist as best as I can tell, a radicalist on every front.

But here he is now professing to be born again. This Wesley Huff also interviewed him just a few days ago, I think, in an interview. And everyone's talking about how he's got saved and born again, and now he's in a church and he's a Christian.

It was Bear Grylls of British fame who actually baptized him in water, who only got baptized the year before in the Jordan River in Israel. In 23, Bear Grylls got baptized in water. You know what's interesting? So I've listened to this interview with Russell Brand.

And you know, for a year and a half now, all the time he's been professing Christ, his vocabulary is filled with Catholic terminology, mysticism. So this afternoon, I listened this latest interview with him and I'm listening carefully. And I come away from it, the interviewer says, wow, I'm so impressed with your love for Christ.

I come away going, you've told me nothing. You've not convinced me that you're born again. And this worries me that we've got a movement in the Western world, they don't even know what the new birth is anymore.

They don't define Christianity. They don't call sin, sin. A man can believe in Christ and his terminology is mystical, new age, Catholic.

We don't even know what they're speaking anymore. They don't appeal to the authority of scripture. And you know what? The people who are accepting them are born again Christians, do believe in the authority of scripture.

Do have faith in Christ, but they're accepting people like this as being born again. That's my introduction to koinonia and separation from sin. I've got about six points here.

Move quickly with me to 2 John 1, verse 10. 2 John 1, verse 10. My first point tonight, koinonia with false gospels.

Koinonia with false gospels. Listen to what it says in 2 John 1, verse 10. If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive them not into your house.

Neither bid him God's speed. For he that biddeth him God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. This is my first point tonight, koinonia with false gospels.

So not only can you have koinonia with the truth, with the real gospel, you can have koinonia with a false gospel. You can have koinonia with sin. You can have koinonia with evil men.

So you better be sure that the koinonia, the fellowship, the love, the partaking, the union, you better make sure the koinonia is not with the wrong people, the wrong gospel and the wrong lifestyle. This first point, koinonia with false gospels. Look what it says in 2 John 1, verse 11.

For he that biddeth him God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. The word partaker there is koinonia. It's one of our words in this family of words, koinonia.

And so if you bid this person God's speed, you are koinonia, and look what it says, of his evil deeds. You can become a koinonia or enter koinonia with this false teacher if you just bid him God's speed. Saints, we need to hear this and you need to understand what koinonia and separation from sin is.

Here's John Wrighton, the apostle of love who knew Jesus Christ and leaned on the bosom of Christ, was intimate with Christ and knew Christ and walked with Christ. Here he is saying that if you bid false teachers God's speed, you partake, you actually enter into their sins. You become a supporter of their sins even though you don't believe them.

But by you blessing them, accepting them, receiving them wrongly, you actually become a partaker of their evil deeds. Now look at that word evil deeds. It's the word ergon.

Evil deeds means bad ergon or works or labor. In other words, their labor, all of their works, all of their preaching. You actually partake of everything that is bad in their preaching, their work, their efforts.

You can so identify with a false teacher that you become a partaker of their evil deeds. This is what the Bible says. That's why you should never just accept or just put God's blessing upon anyone and every teacher.

And notice what sort of people it says there in verse 10. If there come any unto you. The word if is unconditional in the Greek.

It's not like saying this might happen or this is just a wild idea of what could happen. That isn't what it means. It actually means in the Greek, it means this is almost very likely you're gonna encounter it.

In fact, it will be very surprising if at some point you don't actually experience this. So if there come unto you any, notice they're coming unto you, that bring not this doctrine. Notice doctrine's important.

Doctrine is how you test someone, whether you're to bless them and receive them or to reject them or to have none to do with them. They're doctrine. The word doctrine is teaching.

In other words, you can explain the gospel. There is a belief system. And so John is writing here.

He says, if any come and they do not bring unto you this doctrine. What's he talking about? He's talking about the previous verses in 2 John here. It's very interesting.

Just listen for a second what it says here concerning this. It begins in 2 John by speaking about the truth. Constantly, John is writing about the truth.

In verse seven, he talks about, this is what he says. For many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. That is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Any teacher who denies the literal physical manifestation of the person of Christ, he's a deceiver. This is who John's talking about. Don't let them in your door.

Don't put God's blessing upon them. Don't receive them or accept them as Christians if they doubt or deny the literal coming of Jesus Christ. But it goes a little bit further here.

Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Verse nine, whosoever transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ. So transgression or sin is when you don't abide in the teaching of Jesus Christ.

He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he is both the father and the son. If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine. So do you know what John is actually saying here? If someone turns up at your door, knocking on your door, evangelizing, evangelizing on the high street, and they don't bring a correct biblical teaching and doctrine of the person of Christ from scripture, have nothing to do with them.

It's a false teaching. If they don't have the correct teaching on Christ, it is a false doctrine. This is not talking about sinners coming to you.

It's not talking about your unsafe family. You can let the worst of your unsafe family into your house. They're your family.

They're your neighbors. And you do not partake in their sins. So it's not talking about sinners.

It is those who wanna be accepted as brothers in the church as Christians. It's those who not only are coming to listen to you, they're actually coming to preach to you. They're coming to spread their ideas.

So notice this, you're not to allow them in your house, into your home. It's not talking about in the church. This isn't something that happens in the church.

It's the JWs, Jehovah's Witnesses coming to your door. It's the Mormon missionaries who turn up at your door. You know what? Don't let them in your house.

Don't invite them in. I never invite Mormons or JWs into my house. I talk to them on the doorstep.

And you know what? Don't enter into conversation unless you know what you're doing and how to speak to them and how to evangelize. Don't let them stand there and just pour out all their teachings. Do not do that.

Don't allow them to stand there. You're wasting your time and you shouldn't allow it. It says, do not receive them into your house.

It means more than just allowing them in. It means being warm with them when they come to spread their gospel. Do you see how clear this is? If you let someone like that into your home, if you receive them or say, God bless you, you're actually becoming a partaker of their efforts, their evangelism in Limerick City.

They're out there trying to win souls to Mormonism and JWism, and you become a partaker. You enter into koinonia with them. Saints of God, this is a very, very serious thing that we're reading here.

You might meet them on the high street. You might have the opportunity to sit down and fellowship with them. You might meet them at work or some other environment.

There's two ways to partake of their evil. Invite them into your house and to wish them or bid them Godspeed, God blessing, or joy, happiness. Have a good day.

God bless you. Never say God bless you to a cult when you're saying goodbye. Make it clear.

You and I do not believe the same. They're not just someone on the high street. They're not just your neighbor.

These are people coming to evangelize militantly. And you know what? The JW and Mormon doctrine is not the same as ours. There's a whole series of films.

I'm not sure if it's still going. The Chosen, and it's actually being created. It is excellently videoed, acted, produced.

It's been a hit in America and out across the Western world on the biblical life of Christ, on the story of the gospels and the disciples. It's brilliantly done. I've only watched one or two, I think it is.

But do you know what? You've got one, the founder of this is a born again Bible believing Christian who unites himself with two other men, a Mormon and with a Catholic scholar. And they sit and discuss this. And the born again Christian says, no, the Mormons are real born again Christians.

The man who acts Jesus is a Mormon. He also does the rosary and all of the rest. Do you see the confusion that we have in our day? That on a mega scale in the Western world, the lines are becoming blurred.

We have men all the time blessing false gospels. When we need it again, make a stand. Do not be partaker in their sins.

Of their evil deeds, don't have anything. You can have koinonia with men when you don't expose sin, when you don't preach truth, when you don't separate. If you do not separate from false gospels, if you don't draw a clear line, if you don't define what a real Christian is, you can become blurred, wishy-washy, dull in your walk with God and a means of great harm.

So listen, do not let them into your home. Do not bless them or treat them like fellow believers. Don't do that.

But thirdly, and this is important before I close this point but don't be rude. Don't be rude. Don't be sarcastic.

Don't be cutting. I'm always very respectful with Muslims or with Mormons. You know why? Because they're so mannerly, so nice.

I've only once met Mormons that were not nice and weren't very mannerly. I always treat them with respect but I'm always there, always engaged in conversation. I love to talk to them because they're mannerly and they listen.

So I endeavor to give them the gospel. Be delicate, evangelize, testify. Don't get into arguments.

Give your testimony that you're born again and that should be enough. It is false love to open your door to false teachers. It's a false love, it's not love.

So that's the first point, coining it with false gospels. Do not enter into coining it with false gospels. You may be a real born again Christian.

You may love God. You may be clear in your own thoughts. You may believe right but you could be a partaker.

You could enter coining it with people who are not because they are not real Christians. Be careful what you identify with and what you put your blessing on. I believe James and Cephas and John were very careful about putting their blessing on the Apostle Paul.

They met with them in Jerusalem. I bet they asked questions. They listened very carefully.

His testimonies, his doctrine, his manner, his conduct. They watched all of this. I went, you know what? We can put our blessing of koinonia on him.

We are in fellowship together. Second thing, you'll like this. Koinonia with elders who sin.

Koinonia, you're not to enter into koinonia with elders who sin. 1 Timothy chapter five, verse 22. Listen to this verse.

It says, lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. So listen again.

You can be koinonia with a man, a partaker of his sins. It says lay hands suddenly on no man. Or if you do that, you could become a partaker of other men's sins.

The word partaker here, again, is koinonia. The same as the previous verse. You can be koinonia.

You can enter into fellowship or communion with false gospel. But look at this. This is another time.

And it says neither be partaker in other men's sins. It's all about now inside the church. And it's all about real Christians, men in the church, and you enter into their sin.

You enter into koinonia with their sins. But the call here is away from it. Look at their sins.

This is men in the church. They're in sin. How do you enter into koinonia with their sin? This is real born-again Christians.

It's sin, but it's not sin unto death. It's not sin that separates. There's things in their life.

And you could so identify with them that you become a partaker of their sins. They are committing sin in some area. And now you become a koinonia of their sin, a participant in their sin.

A partaker, an identifier, a blesser of their sins. How do you do that? How do you keep yourself pure? Well, it tells you lay hands suddenly on no man. Now, a lot of people think this first means don't be quick to pray for someone for healing.

Or a hundred years ago, the reformed believers used to teach that don't let Pentecostals lay hands on you because they'll impart demons to you. And you'll become a partaker of their sins. So they use this verse and said, don't let any man lay hands on you.

If they pray and say, can I pray for you? Can I lay hands? No, don't you lay your hands on me. I might catch something like a cold or like COVID or who knows what. But it isn't saying that.

It's not talking about healing or blessing or anything else. This laying on of hands, look at the context. Verse 17 and 18 is talking about elders.

And talking about ministry and being worthy of financial support or double honor. Talking about elders there very, very clearly. Then look at verse 19.

It's talking about an accusation against an elder. You need two or three witnesses. You just can't make any accusation against an elder.

Then look at verse 20. It talks about those who do sin. Talking about elders who sin.

Talking about an elder who sins that you're to rebuke before all that all may be ashamed. So notice verse 22 laying on of hands is talking about making someone an elder. It's talking about ordination.

You lay hands on no man suddenly. The word suddenly means quickly, speedily in a short space of time. It means upon a novice or someone who hasn't been proved and tested accurately.

Someone who hasn't had time to grow or show up deficiencies or to show up error in their doctrine. Don't lay hands quickly on any man. And notice what the verse actually says.

It's talking about the verse before it says, a man who's already an elder could sin. He's to be rebuked. Here in this verse it says, don't make a man an elder too soon.

Are things on dealt with in his life, his doctrines, his lifestyle, his beliefs, his convictions. They're on dealt with. They're on proved, on tested.

And so a church by laying hands on a man too quickly to make him an elder could become a partaker of other men's sins. You enter into sins. This laying on of hands isn't a religious act.

It's an act of faith ordaining men to the ministry. We read elsewhere and please note this letter. Timothy is written to Timothy, wasn't a pastor.

Do you know what everyone says? First and second Timothy and Titus, they're the pastoral epistles. All the great scholars, Bible teachers say, it's a load of rubbish. Timothy wasn't a pastor, never was a pastor.

Titus was never a pastor. Do you know what they were? They were apostles who traveled with Paul. Remember Timothy began ministry traveling with Paul.

That's not pastoral ministry. He never settled down. And then at a certain point when he's still a young man, Paul appoints him and says, go to Ephesus, oversee the elders, put the whole church in order.

There's already a large functioning church with elders and young Timothy is put over them. That's not pastoral ministry. That is the gifted ministry of an apostle.

He was a young man, but he actually was apostle. Same with Titus. Now listen, what Paul writes here to Timothy is, he's telling Timothy how to ordain elders.

Don't lay hands on any man too quickly or you could enter into their sins. Then they come forth, they're all out of order. This happens all across the church.

We have men going into ministry. They should never be there. Never ever be there.

They suddenly get saved. They're gifted, they're able, they're radical and they're given ministry. That should never ever happen.

If you're scared to lose someone from the church, if you don't give them a job or a ministry, let them walk, let them walk. This is a biblical church. We do things biblically.

So ordination here, laying on of hands is to eldership. That's how they ordained elders. And you know what? You can be a partaker of a man's sin.

A young man coming up through the church and we go too quickly and set him aside to ministry. He's a leader in the church. He oversees the church.

He's an example in the church. We haven't proved a member. We taught on 22 qualifications laid down in Timothy and Titus.

I don't have a right to change that. I don't have a right to design that. This is the way the church is.

And you know what? When you don't have that in the church, we become partakers of other men's sins. But you're to keep yourself pure. Don't put your hands too quickly.

Don't rush into anything. That's how you keep yourself pure in a very real way. Thirdly, koinonia with sin in the church.

Now we're really getting into this. Ephesians chapter five, verse 11, where we started. And I want you to really notice this.

This is so important here tonight. Ephesians chapter five, 11. It says, and have no fellowship, have no koinonia with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

This is written to the church at Ephesus, to every Christian in the church. You're commanded as members of this church, as the body of Christ, you're commanded, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. It's actually the word sukoinonia, sukoinonia.

It emphasizes even more strongly. Unitedly we do this. All together we do this.

We enter into koinonia with the unfruitful works of darkness. Paul's writing to Ephesus, and he says, do not enter into koinonia unitedly as a body all together with the works of darkness. In fact, he says unfruitful works of darkness.

That means without fruit barren works of no use, no profit, no spiritual fruit coming out of it. So he says inside the church, things that happen inside the church where they are unfruitful, no spiritual fruit, no godly fruit, and in fact, unfruitful works of darkness. The word darkness again is the Greek word skutos.

It's where we get our word skutia, skutia major, skutia minor. Ireland was originally called skutia major. Scotland was called skutia minor.

And the word means darkness. And the word used here, skutos means shadiness, obscurity, ill-defined, in that dark area where you can't even tell what it is. You can't discern anything.

Nothing is visible or real. Nothing is black and white anymore. And here's the apostle saying, have no fellowship with the unfruitful, useless works, labor, abundant works and deeds and actions of darkness, of things that are ill-defined, but rather approve them.

When he says to approve them, he's meaning convince them, tell them their fault, convince them of what they are. They are darkness, works of darkness. Don't coin an ear with them.

Confute them, convince them, expose them, show them where they're wrong. The word means to admonish, to convict or bring convictions, to bring a rebuke or to reprove. So notice here, we are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

We should be rather approving them, exposing them, calling them out, convincing people who are there that this is unfruitful works of darkness. Does it tell us what these unfruitful works of darkness are? Yes, it does in this very chapter. So you can see what you're not to have coin an ear with, what you're not to enter into fellowship with or union with.

Look with me at Ephesians chapter five, verse one. Be therefore followers of God as dear children. Unless you follow God, you're not a child of God.

Isn't it true we hear all across the world, gladly not in this church ever, but out across even the church people say, well, we're all children of God. What a load of rubbish. Do we all follow God? If we all followed God, we'd be all children of God.

The term children of God is carefully defined. You're a follower of God. And it says, you know that by, and walk in love as Christ also loved us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

So notice how this chapter begins. It begins by talking about the children of God walking in love in the reality of Christ's sacrifice. Then he begins to define the unfruitful works, labors, activities that go on in the church that you're not to have koinonia with.

This is people in the church living in a certain way, but you're not to have koinonia with them. You must not have koinonia with us. You must not put your blessing on it, rest at ease with it.

And so he begins to give us examples. Look at verse three. But fornication, that's the first thing he lists.

If you're a child of God, walking in the love of God, you're not walking in fornication. That is any kind of immoral sex outside of the marriage bond. It's sexual sin, the physical act.

That's what fornication is. So in other words, do not have koinonia with that. If there's someone in the church saying they're born again, they're a Christian, they love Jesus.

Don't let them come and take communion and yet they're sleeping with their girlfriend. Don't let them partake of the Lord's table. Don't let them call themselves a born again Christian and be in the church.

This is basic, this is obvious. But yet this happens in the church. Some Jimmy Jones comes in and out of the church, he's sleeping with his girlfriend, they even know it.

Or he's getting drunk every week, but he says, I'm a born again Christian. He takes the Lord's table, he goes out and evangelism. He does lots of things in the church.

Nobody even tells him. They just said, we are praying that the Lord will show him. We just pray that God's gonna save him.

Well, he's a work in progress. He's not quite through yet. You know what my Bible says? They're on their way to hell.

Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. It goes on a second thing in verse three. And all uncleanness, any uncleanness, third of all covetousness, the burning desire for more.

You could be poor tonight. You might have nothing in your covetous person. Or you could have everything you want in your covetous person.

The burning desire for things. Do you know what my Bible says? Don't have koinonia with a covetous man or woman. But when you see their deeds, rebuke them, correct them, point out to them, convince them that it's sin.

Their words, their actions, their lifestyle. Let it not be once named among you as becometh saints. Then look at verse four.

Neither filthiness. What's filthiness? It means to speak. The next three things are spoken things, verbal things, things in your fellowship that can come out.

The first is filthiness. That means shameful or obscene. Filthy talk, obscene talk.

Things you shouldn't talk about. Christians shouldn't talk about. But they get spoken about in the midst of the church.

You know what it says? Don't have koinonia with that. Don't have fellowship with that. Rather approve it.

Stop it immediately and say, excuse me, you might think that's okay, I don't. Using curse words is not okay for a Christian. It's never okay for a Christian to curse.

I don't care if you're alone. It's never okay for a Christian. I'm telling you, when I was a kid, do you know what they done? They washed your mouth out with soap.

One curse word escapes your mouth. We need to get back to it for adults and so-called Christians. But do you know here, it talks about filthiness, filthy talk.

Several years ago, it become popular with popular big time preachers in America that use blasphemies or curse words. They thought it was funny and thought they're being bold. You know what? That ought to be reproved.

It is darkness. It is darkness. It's obscure.

Look at the next word, foolish talk. Oh no, we're getting to foolish talk. That means silly talk, buffoonery.

Mr. Barnes, the commentator, he says this, talk which is insipid, senseless, stupid, foolish, and I'm continuing to quote, idle chitchat, which is in common with the world. Christians should aim to have their conversation sensible, serious, sincere. That's what foolish talk is.

You know what I've seen in entire churches, meetings that are nothing but foolish. I'm not against a laugh or a joke, I'm not. Laughter can be good for the heart.

Some things I say in preaching, they're funny. I don't mean them to be funny. It's just how it is, some things are.

There's nothing sinful in that. But this is talking about constant silly buffoonery. Act your age, men, act your age.

Be very careful. He also says jest in here. The Greek word jest in means witticism, ribalry, ready always with a repertoire.

It means a well-turned phrase, always cunning, funny, smart statements. A pastor in this city was noted for it. I was friends with him, always had a funny comment.

Him and his brother, always turning out a funny comment. It's not funny. You might think you're smart.

It's not funny. It's not becoming of the gospel. It's not spiritual.

And again, Mr. Barnes defines this. He says, that which is well-turned to turn it. That which is humor, wit, jesting, levity.

Can you believe our Bible actually talks about this in koinonia, in fellowship? Listen again to what Paul said. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, the barren labors of obscurity. They're barren, there's no good in them.

And they're obscure. It doesn't even define anything correctly. Look at verse five.

For this you know that no whoremonger, that means an immoral man that indulges in all kinds of sexual sin, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater. Oh, so a covetous man is an idolater. He worships things.

Oh, they'd never bow down in front of a statue of Mary. Their God is things, money, work, possessions, house, and such like. The Bible calls them an idolater.

You may never bow down to a statue and you could be an idolater. Such people have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words.

In other words, don't to talk you out of what I've just preached to you right now. Don't let someone come with vain words and deceive you and talk you back out of apostolic doctrine. For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Be not therefore partakers with them. This is a different word, partake, but it basically means the same, to partake, to enter in, to join in. Don't be a partaker with them.

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. The word proven there means you've got to test, test everything to see if it's acceptable unto the Lord.

Everything in your life, test it, prove it, go and scrutinize it and go, is this right before the Lord? Is it biblical? Is it okay? Is it a thing of light or is it a thing of darkness? Don't be a partaker of the works of darkness out there, but walk as children of light. And how you do that is you prove things, you test things biblically. It says again in 1 John 1 verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with the other and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. No koinonia with God. There's no koinonia with God if you walk in darkness.

If you walk in these things, there's something wrong in your relationship with God. It actually affects your relationship with other Christians. Saints, what I'm dealing with is real koinonia.

A message like this almost never gets preached. Koinonia gets preached across the church. I heard it many years ago.

It does get preached. People will have, look up koinonia on your Google search in churches. You'll get koinonia.

But I wanna tell you many of the articles about koinonia are by people who are committing this sin. I know it is because the next point is gonna prove it. Fourth of all, koinonia with false forms of worship and false unity.

Let me take you to 2 Corinthians 6.14 for this one. Let me state that again. Koinonia with false forms of worship or with false unity.

2 Corinthians 6.14. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion has light with darkness? Now, this scripture almost always throughout my whole lifetime is always used in most churches concerning dating the person you date, hoping for a relationship or entering marriage. So they say, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath.

So it's saying, don't be joined in a relationship. Don't be married. Don't be unequally yoked.

This term unequally yoked, it's talking about mismatched. It's talking like a horse being yoked together with an oxen. It's mismatched.

It's two different animals, two different sizes. They don't think the same. They don't act the same.

I would hate to put in a yoke, a beagle with another kind of dog. They don't think the same as other dogs. They're radically different.

Their temperament, their mindset, you need a beagle yoked to a beagle to be equally yoked. No other dog would ever do it. See this scripture, most people think it's about marriage and that's how they apply it and that's fine.

But I don't believe that's primarily what it's talking about here. Others I've heard they make it to be politics and they say Christians should stay out of politics. Being involved with politics or making statements, you're being unequally yoked with the world.

You're entering into fellowship. I don't believe it means that. Some believe it means business.

Don't enter into business with an unsaved person. I'm not convinced it's that. Marriage, yes.

Dating, yes. But these others, I'm not sure. But let me give you the true definition.

I believe this gets missed. Someone will say, oh, don't go and marry an unsaved person. Don't go and date someone who's out getting drunk.

We know that. But you know what gets missed in most of the church is the real meaning of these scriptures. Let's look at it for a moment.

So 2 Corinthians 6, 15 begins to define what it means to be unequally yoked. It says, and what concord or agreement has Christ with Belial? Belial's the devil. So what agreement has Christ and Belial? Or what part has he that believeth with an infidel, an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of God.

As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. When we look at these verses, I actually believe this is speaking about a religious system of worship. I believe it's talking about unifying in a religious environment.

It's not just talking about work. It's not just talking about dating. This is something far greater.

Notice all the things in these verses. It compares righteousness to unrighteousness, light to darkness. That's not speaking about truth, not just your lifestyle, two different kinds of lifestyle, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, the person of Jesus with Belial.

What do they have in common? He that believeth with an infidel, the temple of God with idols, God with idols. All these things are being compared. I believe these scriptures are talking about religious worship with the real church.

I believe we have it all across the church as a false ecumenical dialogue. For example, the Catholic church. Francis today over the Catholic church is one of the most apostate popes who's ever existed.

Even the real Catholics believe he's an apostate. They don't accept him as the real pope. He is so bad, even good Catholics, simple Catholics cannot accept him.

That's how bad that system has become. But you know what? The Catholic church itself is corrupt. It's gospel is false.

It's light is darkness. It's ceremonies, it's titles, it's structure is taken from paganism. It's statues used to be pagan.

It's garments were pagan. It's hats are pagan. All of this ritual taken from paganism.

So Paul is talking about this mixture of worship. How can the temple of God, how can the real church, the spiritual church mix with what is idolatry? Saints, we are in an hour in the church where all the great spiritual leaders in the church of our day don't even see anything wrong with Catholicism anymore. Leonard Ravenhill, that great man, he used to say the two great dangers to the real church is communism and Catholicism.

So the reason we don't have revival is because communism and Catholicism is coming into the real church. Can I tell you that we are not to have koinonia. We're not to be unequally joined or yoked together.

Yes, some young guy dating an unsaved girl who's immoral, who's worldly, a drunkard, that's sin. Have no koinonia with her. Don't enter into fellowship with her.

Don't join with her, of course. But there's a bigger problem here is that the worship of the church across the Western world, that we are unequally yoked with religious systems. And you know what? Those actual systems, like it says here, they are unrighteous, they are darkness, they are a belial, they're infidel, they're idolatrous.

And yet we're joining with these systems. All the Pentecostal leaders in America a few years ago, Copeland, Baptist preachers, all of them went over and met with Pope Francis. And they all sat there hailing him as their brother in Christ.

That's how corrupt the thing has become. It's laughable, it's a mockery. They're desecrating the temple of God, the house of God, the church of God.

And like I said, you've got born again Christians who can't even define between Mormonism and born again Christianity in the chosen. We can have men acting as Jesus. They're idolatrous, abominable, heathenish men.

But we think they're born again Christians, heroes of the faith. We can have popular heroes in politics, or sports, or some area of society that come out and claim to be a Christian and we're all there going, oh, well, they're not born again. No change life, no holiness, no sound doctrine, no clarity.

Saints, I'm telling you, when we see all these modern converts, I look at you in this room, saved out of heroin, saved out of the new age, saved out of Freemasonry, saved out of Catholicism, saved out of atheism. All of you sitting here right now in this room out of crime, drugs, drink, whatever. Do you know what? There was clear salvation.

You weren't obscure, you weren't in doubt. The gospel comes on to you. And you know what? I've got no problem entering into fellowship with you.

Do you know what Paul actually commands here? Don't be unequally yoked with religious systems that are idolatrous, they're darkness, there's wrong things happening, but we're trying to unify with it. Do not do it. Don't do that.

Listen to what he says to do in verse 17. Wherefore, come out from among them. Come out.

We need to hear that message again in the church. Come out. Come out from all affiliations, all church unions, all associations, all fellowship with Christians who are idolatrous.

Don't be in that sort of fellowship. It's an abomination. Come out from among them and be ye separate.

It's a command. You don't have a choice about that. If you're unequally yoked, come out.

If you're joined together in koinonia, come out. Don't have koinonia with idolatrous systems and touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you and I will be a father unto you.

And ye shall be my sons and my daughters, forsaith the Lord Almighty. He's not talking about dating. He's talking about the church, the purity, the holiness of the church, coming out, being separate, being holy.

And there's no sonship without obedience. Never let anyone tell you, I'm a son. And it doesn't matter if I'm obedient.

Yes, it does. The Bible just says that. You can have a believer who practices love but neglects separation.

But you can also have a Christian who practices separation but doesn't practice love. Why don't we have both love and separation? There's no contradiction. I can be a separatist, a fundamentalist, a dogmatist, a holiness puritan, but filled with the love of God, reaching out, sitting with sinners, the alcoholics wanting to come sit with me.

The testimony of this church. You know why? Because love is real and it does separate from sin. Fifth and lastly, let me finish.

And I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 18, verse four. My fifth and last point, koinonia with the last Babylonian system. Do you see, we've dealt with in each of these verses, koinonia is dealt with.

Do you see how important koinonia is? You can have koinonia with sin, false teachings, with persons, with systems, and you're to come out. But this is the last one that we're gonna finish with. Koinonia with the last Babylonian system.

Revelation 18, verse four. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not,' and this is the word partakers, "'of her sins, that ye receive not of her plagues.'" To be partakers is koinonia. Who is Jesus speaking to in Revelation 18? "'Come out of her, my people.'" So he's speaking about a system that he calls Babylon.

Babylon. And he's saying, come out of her. To be in her means you're a partaker of her sins.

You cannot be in Babylon and not be a partaker of her sins. You've gotta separate. You've gotta come out of her.

If you don't and you're a part of her, you're a partaker of her sins. Everything of our system is sinful. Revelation 18 is all about a system that God's people are called out of.

They're to have nothing to do with. What is Babylon in Revelation 18? Let me explain it briefly as we close. It is important to note the difference between Revelation 17 and Revelation 18.

They're not the same. In Revelation 17, you have mystery, Babylon the Great. But in chapter 18, you have the literal city of Babylon.

It's not a religious system out across the world. It's a localized city in one place, and it's called Babylon. It's a physical, literal city.

So chapter 17 and 18 are describing two different things. Chapter 17's a religious system. Chapter 18 is a physical city of trade, of enterprise.

If you study carefully from chapter 16, verse 17, through to chapter 19, verse three, you will see both similarities and great differences between these two Babylons, but they're not the same. And you've gotta understand this as we close, because Babylon in chapter 18, we're not to be a partaker of her, not to have anything to do with her. Mystery, Babylon in chapter 17, and again in chapter 19, is a symbolic vision, and it has to be interpreted by the angel for John to understand what it is.

The angel has to tell John, look, I'm gonna tell you what 17 is. But listen, when it comes to Babylon in chapter 16 and 18, it needs no interpretation at all. The angel doesn't interpret it.

It's a literal, physical city. Mystery, Babylon is called a harlot, but the literal Babylon is not. It is most often called Babylon the great or Babylon the great city, because it's a literal city.

The judgment of mystery, Babylon in chapter 17, listen to this carefully, this shows it's different. The judgment of mystery, Babylon in chapter 17 comes from the hand of man before the beast or Antichrist rules. It comes through 10 great world leaders who begin to arise.

They destroy mystery, Babylon. It's the beginning of their reign. But chapter 18 happens at the end of the tribulation, way after the 10 leaders have come and gone.

They're not in existence anymore. So you're dealing with two different Babylons. They're different judgments on them, destroyed at different times.

They have different functions in different parts of the world. Chapter 17, Babylon, it comes out of Rome, the city of Rome. Chapter 18 is out of the literal city of Babylon.

It's not symbolic. It's the literal city. The kings of the earth are glad when mystery, Babylon is destroyed.

But when the city of Babylon is destroyed, they cry tears because they are the merchants of the earth. They cry, they mourn, they grieve because all their wealth has been lost in the literal city. Mystery, Babylon is a religion and an idolatrous system that puts statues in all of the world.

But chapter 18 is a merchant city of trade. Mystery, Babylon makes herself rich at the expense of the kings and the nations of the earth. It takes all their wealth.

But the literal Babylon, it makes the nations rich and it makes the kings of the earth and the businessmen of the earth, it makes them rich. So we see with these diverse contrasts, we're dealing with something different in Revelation 17, Revelation 18. And look at the first verse of Revelation 18, verse one.

And these things, and after these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven. Please notice this, after these things, after Revelation 17, after all of that happened, another angel comes, not the same angel. After the judgment of mystery, Babylon, another angel comes and it begins revealing the judgment that's gonna come on the physical city of Babylon.

Those who say there is no difference or separation are deluded concerning these two chapters. Some try to make the two chapters, one, or chapter 18, an extension. It's not, it's something very different.

So what is Revelation 18? It's a literal city. It's gonna be antichrist city. If I had time to show you tonight, I can easily show you.

It's gonna be the capital, the world government. Economics is gonna move right back to the east, to the city of Babylon, right at the end of time. World economics is gonna move away from London, away from Wall Street.

It's going back to the city of Babylon. Mark my words, we'll see world economy literally move back there. You're gonna see the power of the nations.

That city even restores slavery back. It becomes the hub of worldwide trade. It becomes a mega city.

I believe it will be rebuilt overnight. I believe AI will be at the heart of it. I believe it's gonna be the most phenomenal city in the world.

Ancient Babylon will get restored and come out of the sands of time again. You're talking about an ND political system that has a mark of the beast attached to it. World economics attached to it.

Sovereign power over the nations connected to it. And church, we are heading towards this last hour, the last time on one of the last warnings of scripture is come ye out of her my people. Don't have Koinonia with her.

God's people who are alive at that stage, they are commanded, prophesied to, don't be a partaker in their sins. And that you receive not her plagues. Because if you're part of that city, in that city, you will be a part of her plagues.

Plagues are coming to that mega city. That intellectual city, that giant of a city, that technological advanced city, it's gonna be a very dangerous place. Since all I'm dealing with here, from the little sins and churches, to the false teacher who comes to your door, to the mega political system that's rising on our world today, that's slowly forming, preparing to be a part of the last political, religious, technological, economic system of the world.

Have no part of it. And can I tell you, although it's not here yet, and it's not visible and manifest, don't let the spirit of it affect you. There is a Babylonian spirit.

Oh yes, there was a Babylonian spirit in the Catholic church, but there's also a Babylonian spirit in this world that thinks of how you do economically, your own wealth, your own peace, your own joy, your own prosperity, rather than heaven and eternity. And I pray God preserves you tonight from all these things. Have no koinonia with sin.

Have no koinonia with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather approve them. Let's pray. Father, we love you.

We thank you, God. Father, week by week, you're defining koinonia. You're teaching us, you're revealing, you're opening it up.

Lord God, I pray that even this message tonight would expose every false koinonia. Lord God, every false partaking of sins, of compromise, of a false gospel. Lord God, this new form of Christianity that is flowing out across the Western world, shaking the powers that be, infiltrating into media, into fame, into fortune, into politics.

Father, I pray that we would be separate from koinonia with darkness, with idolatry, with corruption, with false doctrine, that we're gonna keep ourselves. Be separate, be pure, be holy, that we're gonna rebuke, that we're gonna expose the unfruitful works of darkness. And Father, I do pray, help us to walk in the light of God, that we might have koinonia with the real church, with real Christians.

In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.